Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie Twist
Paleo Shepherd's Pie with a twist. A well rounded meal in itself.
Depending on where you live, the winter months can be a little rough. January and February seem to crawl by, while summer is a fast paced race. Taking in the Danish tradition of hygge is a wonderful way to enjoy winter. In relationship to that, we look forward to cozy, warming, and filling meals that can enjoyed by candlelight.
If you're looking for some comfort food that also provides protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and some spice, this could be a winner! Shepherd's pie is one of those meals that is fine in its traditional state, but creating a twist on can be a fun experiment. This recipe is a little reminder of Thanksgiving, with sweet potato, Italian sausage, apple, parsnips, and cranberries as the main ingredients. If you have leftover sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving, you can even reuse them for the top layer.
How to Make Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie Twist
Multiple steps are required due to the layering of ingredients. First, you want to boil your sweet potatoes. After boiling until soft, they should be mashed with the addition of almond milk. They can be mashed with a hand masher, a mixer, or an immersion stick blender.
Pork Mixture
The next step is to cook the pork mixture. You'll start with cooking the hard vegetables, then the Italian sausage, and finally the apples, spinach and cranberries.
Dried cranberries can be difficult to find without sugar. There are some brands that sweeten cranberries with juice, which is the best option. If you cannot find sugar free dried cranberries, they can be eliminated altogether, but it's certainly nice having the touch of cranberries.
Putting it Together
Add the sausage mixture to a bread loaf pan and smooth out the sweet potatoes on the top. Pop in the oven for several minutes to warm thoroughly.
Winter Comfort Food
This is a delicious dish during those cooler months when you're more likely to look for comfort food. It's a meal in itself, with lots of vegetables, fruit, and protein. Enjoy!
Sweet Potato Italian Sausage Shepherd’s Pie Twist
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 parsnip, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
- 1 tbsp each fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp dried of each)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
- 1 apple, chopped
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped in medium chunks
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (store bought or click for homemade recipe)
- 1/2 tsp salt plus to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Boil 10-12 cups of water in a medium pot. Add sweet potatoes and a little salt. Boil the sweet potatoes until soft, about 15-20minutes, then drain. Put sweet potatoes back in the pot and add unsweetened almond milk and ½ tsp salt. Mash until smooth with a mixer or immersion blender.
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add onions and parsnips and cook about 3-4 minutes until soft. Add garlic while stirring and cooking one more minute. Then add the sausage and a pinch of salt, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. When sausage is mostly cooked, add the herbs. Stir to combine, then keep cooking until sausage is fully cooked and no longer pink.
- Add apples and cranberries, stir and cook another minute. Add spinach and keep stirring until wilted.
- Put sausage mix in the bottom of a loaf pan, then spread sweet potato mash on the top. Warm in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Serve warm.